Vaccinations, Anti-Malarials, and more!
// January 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Trip Preparation
We’re all vaccinated and ready to go!
After 3 appointments and 13 shots later we’re fully vaccinated and ready to travel the world! At this point after getting so many shots within the last month you’d think that we should be well protected from nearly any disease out there. Right?
Our first visit to the South Shore Hospital Travel Clinic was on 12/31/09 and according to our practitioner we received an all time record of shots in a visit. (10!) Yes, TEN! Five in each arm to be exact. We left the clinic with our arms feeling a little sore but that wasn’t our only issue. We were really hoping that we wouldn’t get sick from getting all of these vaccination in one visit, or better yet one hour! Fortunately for us, we were in good hands as we soon realized that we were being taken care of by one of the best travel clinic practitioners in all of Massachusetts! Thanks Dinah!
The vaccinations that we received on our first visit (12/31/09) were the following:
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Japanese Encephalitis (1 of 2)
- Meningococcal
- Tetanus-Diphtheria
- Seasonal Flu
- H1N1
- Polio
- Rabies (1 of 3)
- Yellow Fever
Our next visit was on 1/7/10 where we recieved our second in a series of three Rabies shots.
- Rabies (2 of 3)
And last but not least our final visit on 1/28/10 consisted of our third and final Rabies shot and our second and final Japanese Encephalitis shot.
- Rabies (3 of 3)
- Japanese Encephalitis (2 of 2)
During our last visit we got to talking about a subject that I had been researching for the last few weeks. Anti-malarial tablets. Scary, right? Which type should we take? What are the side effects of each brand? Should we risk not taking them? How many pills will we need? The answers to these questions seemed to really vary when researching the Internet. Some people take off to areas that are infected with Malaria with no thoughts of purchasing anti-malarials, others do their research and decide that it would probably be best to go to any length to stay healthy on a trip of this magnitude.I mean really, who wants to get Malaria!?
It seems like a no-brainer, right? Well not so fast. There are plenty of downsides to taking anti-malarials can be extreme! Some of the side effects include; nausea, mouth ulcers, blurred vision, rashes, sensitive skin, headache, dizzyness, itching, confusion, depression and even risk of suicide!
Our practitioner recommended that we take Atovaquone (Malarone) a well known and trusted anti-malarial that has the least side effects. After doing some research I found that Malarone seemed to be a somewhat popular choice for travelers, and an expensive choice at that!
Put it this way, my three month supply of Malarone (90 days / 90 Pills) with insurance coverage cost me $90.00. $1/pill! Curious to know what it would have cost if I didn’t have insurance? Try $736.00! ($8.17/pill).
After all was said and done at the pharmacy I spent $110.00 on three prescriptions; Malarone (Anti-Malarial Tablets), ZPak, and Cipro (Antibiotics). To me, it was a small price to pay considering two things. 1. I want to stay as healthy as possible while I travel, and 2. This is the only money that I’ve spent out of pocket as of yet due to my insurance covering ALL of my vaccinations! $110 is pocket change compared to the money that I could have spent on vaccinations alone if I didn’t have insurance.
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Have you traveled to malaria infected areas? If so, what did you decide was best for YOU? What types of anti-malarials did you take, if any? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave comments below!
If you reside in Massachusetts and are interested in finding out about vaccinations, or prescriptions that you’ll need for your upcoming trip do not hesitate to contact the South Shore Hospital’s Travel Clinic at 781-624-8580. Make sure you ask to be seen by the best travel clinic practitioner around, Dinah McDonald.
